Posted on 12/21/2023 3:49:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
Tabby footage crosses millions of miles and was still faster than most folks' home broadband
From the department of "what must the aliens think of us?" comes news that NASA has demonstrated its Deep Space Optical Communications experiment through the medium of a cat video.
The 15-second, ultra-high definition video of an orange tabby cat named Taters was sent back to Earth as part of the demonstration. It took 101 seconds for the video to reach Earth, with the system running at its maximum bit rate of 267 Mbps.
We shall obviously be adding this to our list of Register measurements: one Astro Cat = 101 seconds of data at 267 megabits per second.
The event took place on December 11 when Psyche, the spacecraft hosting the experiment, was 19 million miles (approximately 31 million kilometers) from Earth.
Cat video aside, the speed and quantity of data is a significant achievement. The team has ramped up the downlink bit rates and on December 4 demonstrated rates of 62.5 Mbps, 100 Mbps, and 267 Mbps. During that time, 1.3 terabits of data were transferred. To put that in context, NASA's Magellan mission to Venus managed 1.2 terabits during its entire mission from 1990 to 1994.
Typically, the experiment sends randomly generated test data. However, the onboard cat video was transmitted this time around – showing Taters chasing a laser pointer.
The plan is for the Psyche payload to continue transmitting data as the probe travels to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. In doing so, it will demonstrate high-data-rate signals as far out as Mars's greatest distance from Earth.
NASA's Psyche spacecraft beams back a 'Hello' from 10 million miles away Falcon Heavy sends NASA probe to metal-rich asteroid Psyche NASA's Psyche asteroid mission suffers another heavenly holdup NASA delays already-late $1B Psyche probe's visit to metal-rich asteroid Bill Klipstein, the tech demo's project manager, said: "One of the goals is to demonstrate the ability to transmit broadband video across millions of miles."
Depending on the performance of your own broadband, you might think the demo has only served to show the limitations of terrestrial connectivity. After all, from 19 million miles away, it appears to run faster than this hack's broadband connection.
Ryan Rogalin, the project's receiver electronics lead, noted: "In fact, after receiving the video at Palomar, it was sent to JPL over the internet, and that connection was slower than the signal coming from deep space."
There is work to do. While the team can lock onto spacecraft and terminals for longer than previously – long enough to send the all-important cat video – Ken Andrews, the project flight operations lead, said: "We are learning something new during each checkout."
We can just imagine the animated GIFs and memes the engineers have in mind for future spacecraft applications. ®
Meh! Just send some tiktoks.
Video here
NASA has used a state-of-the-art laser communication system on a spaceship 31 million km away from Earth
https://rumble.com/v426z1d-nasa-has-used-a-laser-communication-system-on-a-spaceship-31-million-km-awa.html
Question: Why not send a real cat 🐈⬛ into outer space? Answer: Those pesky Van Allen Belts…😔
They should have named the metal-rich asteroid "Fred Mertz." Or maybe "Barney Rubble." Nay, they should have gone with "Seymour Butz."
But "Bill Klipstein"? How boring.
Remember the 300baud rate and squeaking modem of Compuserve? I thought that was amazing!
You might think you’re being helpful.
BUT YOU’RE NOT!
SpaceX / Musk is working with another billionaire to possibly save / upgrade the amazing Hubble Telescope. Once Starship/Superheavy is functional, how about a robotic mission to one or both Voyager spacecraft. Replace the powerbanks and install the laser communication. Could be good for another 50+ years out where no man, no anything has gone before.
Bill Klipstein is the project manager, not the name of the asteroid. But if they wanted to give it an exciting name, they could have named it after Johnny Klippstein, who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins.
“Bill Klipstein is the project manager, not the name of the asteroid”
I knew that. But it’s another case of weird writing.
By Federal Government standards, 267 megabits per second is blazing fast.
Its electromagnetic radiation which is harmless in small doses, not nuclear/gamma radiation.
that’s like the planned mission to Oumuamua - no one alive when it is sent will still be alive when it arrives.
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